Sports: Tigers Unbeaten on the Road; Win 7-4

Tigers

The Tigers remained unbeaten on the road with a 7-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday.   Nick Castellanos hit a two-run double in the fourth off Gerrit Cole (0-2) and added a two-run homer in the eighth off Tony Watson to drive in 4 runs.  Jordan Zimmermann pitched six shutout innings. Zimmermann (2-0), who signed a five-year, $110 million deal with Detroit last December, gave up six hits and two walks while striking out four. He has yet to give up a run for the Tigers. The Tigers took 3 of 4 from the Pirates and are 4-0 on the road. Francisco Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth for his second save.  The Tigers have scored at least four runs in each of their first eight games, tying for their best offensive start since 1913.  The Tigers head to Houston for three games.  Mike Pelfrey pitches tonight against the Astros.  Broadcast time is 7:45 on WBCK.   Justin Verlander starts Saturday night and Anibal Sanchez on Sunday afternoon.

Still Winless in MLB

The Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins remain the only winless teams in the majors. Bryce Harper's 100th career home run was a grand slam that powered the Nationals to a 6-2 win over the 0-9 Braves in Washington. The Twins are 0-9 after Avisail Garcia hit a solo homer and Mat Latos allowed just three hits in six innings of the Chicago White Sox's 3-1 triumph at Minnesota.

Red Wings

After losing game one in Tampa, the Red Wings play on the road against the Lightning again tonight.  The series will shift to Detroit for a game Sunday at 7pm.

NBA/Pistons

The Pistons start playoff action on Sunday in Cleveland.  Coach Stan Van Gundy has helped the Pistons earn a spot in the playoffs for the first time since 2009. That ended a drought that followed an eight-year run in which they were in the postseason every year, won an NBA title, almost repeated and advanced to six straight Eastern Conference finals.  Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue will make his postseason debut as the leader of an NBA team on Sunday in Cleveland in Game 1. Van Gundy is 48-39 in the playoffs.  Game time Sunday is 3pm. Game 2 is Wednesday in Cleveland.  Game 3 will be next Friday at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Softball

The KCC softball team won both non-conference games against the Alma JV, winning 8-0 and 7-3.  They play at home on Saturday at 1pm against Jackson.  Coach Derek Herman says they’re very important games if they want to stay alive in the conference race.  KCC is 19-3 overall and 9-3 in conference play.

Parma Western swept Pennfield 3-1 and 10-0.

Coldwater beat Marshall 14-0 and 16-0.

Athens swept Tekonsha, 12-0 and 8-4.

Baseball
KCC’s Bruins swept LCC, 13-2 and 8-6.  They host St. Clair County today and Jackson CC on Saturday.

Harper Creek beat Jackson Northwest 20-6.   The nightcap was called due to darkness with the Beavers leading 10-5 in the 5^th.

St. Philip and Athens split a pair.  Athens winning game one 9-3 as the Tigers made 8 errors.   St. Philip won game 2 10-3.

Parma Western swept Pennfield 5-4 and 14-4.

Coldwater beat Marshall 7-3 in 11 innings.

Union City beat Colon 13-5 and 4-1.

Boys Golf

Delton Kellogg beat Hopkins, 178-217.

Nascar

NASCAR goes to Tennessee and the short track at Bristol Motor Speedway this Sunday for the Food City 500.

Golf

Luke Donald and Branden Grace share the first-round lead at the RBC Heritage golf tournament at Hilton Head. Donald fired a 32 on the back nine to tie Grace at 5-under 66.